Federal Reserve officials, in their own words, on timing of first rate hike

Some think the Fed should already be moving the rocket to the launchpad. Others think the one lesson of the Great Depression is that tightening policy too soon could cause the economy to falter.

While every economist has an opinion on the timing of “lift-off,” MarketWatch has collected the opinion of the folks who matters: the members of the central bank’s policy committee.

These quotes help inform the so-called dot plot, that the Fed will release after its two-day meeting ending June 18. The dot-plot indicates when each member expects the first rate hike to occur, and how high rates will go.

Here are the latest, verbatim, quotes from Fed officials about the timing of the lift-off, culled from speeches, press conferences and interviews.

Right now there are two general camps. Some Fed officials want the first hike to occur by the summer of 2015 while others seem to favor the first move closer to the end of the year.